A House full of Wolves
by LovelyWarblerette
Summary: Summer Break with a pack of werewolves meant a lot of bonding and stupid shenanigans. And for a certain grumpy Alpha and the dorky human sidekick, the bonding was a lot stronger than for others!
1. Chapter 1

"I cannot wait until you are finished with remodeling your house! Then I might be able to finally have my living room back" Sheriff Stilinski said with a sigh when he entered the sitting room and found a horde of teenagers, and one young man, sprawled across every sitting possibility in the room, the TV showing a movie and a multitude of pizza cartons surrounding the scene.

"I promise we will be out of your hair as soon as possible, Sir" Derek replied, a look on his face that could only be described as a mix between grateful and amused. So much had changed in the last few weeks, and Derek was glad to be able to say that it had changed for the better.

"Admit it, Dad, you like having all of us hanging out here. We could have kept hanging out in an abandoned train station, but instead we chose this humble abode here. Much more comfortable, although I have to admit that it is quite funny to see a bunch of werewolves sitting around watching stupid rom-coms!" Stiles added, chuckling at the glares most of the males in the room directed at him. It certainly hadn't been their decision to watch Crazy Stupid Love, but the combined forces of Lydia and Erica had made them cave and let them watch whatever the girls wanted. Not that Stiles minded. He liked that movie!

Indeed a lot had happened after the incident with Gerard Argent and the Kanima. For one, Chris Argent had carted his daughter off to somewhere in the middle of nowhere in France to get her back on a slightly less crazy track, much to Scott's dismay. It didn't pass a day where the young wolf didn't stare off into the abyss and sigh, obviously longing for his first love. Stiles however found it to be good therapy for his best friend. He had to get a grip. What Allison had done to them, to their pack, had been inexcusable. The best thing for Scott to do would be forgetting the girl!

Not that that would be happening. Stiles knew Scott and Allison were destined to be together. But a bit of a break would do his best friend some good, get him back on track.

A much happier incident was retrieving Erica and Boyd from where they had been held captive by rogue hunters - again. It had involved Stiles' father being pulled into the group of people in the know, but it would have been much harder to explain why the misfit group of teenagers was capable of finding their friends without a task force without mentioning the whole wolfy thing. Sheriff Stilinski had been shocked, to say the least, but surprisingly it had only taken Stiles explaining everything three times before he had wrapped his head around the new reveal of things. It had also cleared up a lot of things for the Sheriff, with what happened with Matt in the police station and all the other 'mysterious deaths' that had been occurring in their normally quiet town. Stiles suspected his father wasn't all fine with it yet, but having Melissa McCall by his side to figure everything out together helped him greatly. In comparison, the woman had a worse fate, her own son turned into a furry monster every full moon, Stiles was just an innocent bystander.

Although, calling Stiles Stilinski innocent was probably an oxymoron.

By far the happiest about seeing Erica and Boyd coming back to them had been Isaac. The young wolf had been inconsolable for the whole time he had known his friends, his siblings rather, had been locked up by hunters, and as soon as he had seen the battered and bruised forms of the two teenagers emerge from the abandoned building they had been kept in, the boy had lit up like a Christmas tree. Stiles had to admit it was adorable to see what an effect the three had on each other, but especially Erica and Boyd on Isaac. After the power rush he had been on after the bite had toned down, Isaac had calmed his demeanor considerably. Because of the boy's rocky past and the incident with Allison in the abandoned warehouse, where she had stabbed him, Isaac now suffered from bouts anxiety, and his wolf had adapted to it by appearing younger than the others and therefore was a lot more fragile and in need of care. Even though Isaac hated it, he truly was the youngest wolf of their pack. He tried to put on a tough act whenever people called him out on it, but actually, he reveled in the attention this position brought him. Too long had he gone without any positive attention, and the pack would be damned if they wouldn't make up on the lost time!

Derek had been disappointed in Erica and Boyd because of their leaving, but he had tried to patch up the differences between his betas and him. He craved a well functioning pack, and the first step to achieve that was to let bygones be bygones. The same happened with Scott. They both admitted, albeit grudgingly, that they had been wrong on multiple accounts, and that they needed to work together to function properly on the same territory. Scott had seen how Derek was trying with the rest of the betas, and after discussing it lengthily with Stiles, had accepted Derek as his alpha.

So with a new Hale pack formed, bruises and cuts healed, Stiles' surprisingly with the help of Derek Hale's magic hands channeling the pain out of his body, the next thing to figure out was to bring the Hale home up to standard again. Derek had hired a troupe of workers to rebuild the house, and he had paid the men good money to have the house done as soon as possible. It had been six weeks now, and the house was ready to be moved into again. There were only minor details to be worked on anymore, and Derek reckoned moving day would be in a week or two. For the time being he had moved into a hotel in the city centre, and Isaac had been placed into the loving care of Melissa McCall. Once the house was done, he would move in permanently, with Derek being named his legal guardian. How that had been accomplished Stiles didn't know, seeing as Derek had been accused of murder once- twice. Okay that might have been his fault, Stiles thought, but the charges had been dropped eventually after all. No harm done, even though Derek liked to hold it against Stiles from time to time.

"While I enjoy the company and cooked dinner, I would really like to have my recliner back soon, son" Sheriff Stilinski said with a laugh, shaking his head at the scene again. Them having pizza really was an exception from what they usually had to eat.

Derek looked around himself, seeing his pack strewn across the floor and couches, and spotted Jackson lounging in the well worn recliner that the Sheriff obviously meant.

"Jackson, up" he said, and the boy in question turned in his seat to look at his alpha.

"Huh?" Eloquent, as always, Stiles thought.

"Get out of the chair" Derek ordered again and Jackson huffed, turning back to the screen. It only took one growl from his alpha to make him practically fly out of the chair and over to where Lydia sat next to Erica. He picked her up as if she was as light as a ragdoll, sat down in the seat previously occupied by her, and then settled her in his lap.

It made Stiles want to vomit, they were so cute together. And that was something he never thought he would say. But after being practically reborn as a wolf, Jackson had changed. He had calmed down his asshole demeanor, which didn't mean he wasn't still an asshole, because oh lord, he was, but he had pushed it down a notch. Jackson's wolf had recognized Lydia as his mate and after Lydia had accepted the mate bond, they were practically inseparable. It would be annoying, if it wasn't so cute. Stiles had resigned on not ever having a chance with the redhead. It had been a nice thought in his head, but he had to admit, Lydia and he would probably kill each other sooner or later if they were to go out. No, this was fine. Stiles enjoyed the friendship he had with her now. He finally had someone who could hold up with his intellect!

From his seat on the other couch Stiles could see that everything was good. Everyone was happy, except for Scott, maybe, but he was getting there, and Stiles was grateful for this. They deserved this break. They all had gone through a shit ton of stuff and a bit of peace was well appreciated. On his left, Scott let out a sigh. Stiles turned to see a frown on his best friend's face.

"Dude, what's up?" he asked quietly and Scott turned to look at him, a look on his face that would make a puppy jealous.

"This is one of Allison's favorite movies" he said with a sigh and a groan went through the ranks.

"Not again, Scott! You say that about every movie! You seriously need to get a grip or else I will-" Jackson started, but again, a growl from Derek made the beta shut up. The alpha reached across the backrest from where he sat on Stiles' right, and put his hand on the back of Scott's neck. It was Derek's way of showing affection and comfort. He was trying, really, to be a better alpha, to care for his pack, but that didn't mean that he didn't still have a long way to go before he would deserve a '#1 alpha' mug. But still, this simple gesture showed that he cared, cared for his pack and what they were going through and right now, Scott needed this assurance to know he wasn't alone. Stiles heard a low whine and looked over to where Isaac was moving towards their couch from where he had sat on the floor next to Boyd and between Erica's legs. With another whine he settled in front of Scott and leaned his head against his leg. Stiles was close to cooing at the scene.

"Isaac I swear you are way too cute for a 16 year old! The puppy wants everyone to be happy" he exclaimed, ruffling the curly haired boy's hair, only to receive a small snarl and a stink eye.

"I'm not a puppy!" he whined, but leaned further into Scott's leg to comfort his wolf brother.

"Yes, you are, Isaac, there is no way to deny it!" Erica piped up from the other couch, and the rest of the pack chuckled at the face Isaac pulled.

The wolf pack was getting ready to leave the Stilinski residence for the night. They had been spending almost every evening for the last few weeks in the same exact spot, and even though he had appeared to be completely fine with it, Stiles couldn't wait for a change of scenery. He loved his home, and he loved his pack, but man, it could get boring sometimes! He followed the others into the front hall, where a mass of shoes was scattered around and the teenagers were rummaging through the piles to find their pairs.

"We're going to go shop for furniture for the house tomorrow. I would like all of you to come. This is going to be our house, not just mine, and everyone should get a chance to pitch in with ideas" Derek announced and most of the pack groaned.

"But Derek! We had plans already! We rented a pitch and wanted to play a bit of baseball! You know, finally be able to not hold back all the time!" Scott whined and Derek heaved a sigh.

"Yeah, and Erica and I have appointments to get our nails done at noon, but afterwards we could join you" Lydia said and Derek's sigh turned into a slight growl. He rubbed a hand across his face in defeat. Sometimes he regretted building a pack with a bunch of teenagers.

"Okay. At least you are doing something together. But I want all of you to come and look for furniture at least once in the next week, got it?" he said to the boys, then turned to Erica and Lydia. "You can meet me after your appointment. I'm sure you agree when I say I worry about the outcome of the house when I let the boys have free reign over what they buy." Erica and Lydia nodded with a grin, promising to go to the furniture shop right after their manicure. With that the pack was out of the front door and piled into various cars, one after the other driving off. Seeing his betas off, Derek made to put on his leather jacket.

"So, when are we going to meet? Or are you picking me up tomorrow? I mean, it would be stupid to drive with two cars, right? What with the global warming, and, as much as I love my car, the Jeep really isn't as eco-friendly as I would like it to be. So really, you should pick me up and then we go to the furniture shop together. But I am not stepping foot into an Ikea, okay?" Stiles looked at Derek's confused face. Okay, maybe he had talked a bit fast, but the Alpha ought to keep up with him, he had sonic hearing or something after all!

"What?" Just like Jackson, Derek was ever so eloquent. Was that an integral part of the wolf gene?

"Dude? You just said we are going to meet up to buy furniture! And I'm telling you we should take one car to go there!" Stiles repeated himself and understanding dawned on the taller man's face.

"But don't you want to go play baseball with the others? Or meet wi-" he inquired, but Stiles stopped him in his tracks.

"Dude, I am not going to play baseball with your wolves, at least not if I value my body as a whole, and trust me, I do. They would mangle me! And while I appreciate clean and groomed nails, I am not going to a manicure with Lydia and Catwoman! Not in a thousand years!" he argued and Derek nodded. He could see reason in what Stiles was saying.

"Good, okay, I'll come over at 11" he replied and bent down to tie his laces.

"What?! 11 in the morning? Come on Derek, I have summer break! Why do we have to get up that early?"

"Stiles! 11am or you can drive yourself!" Derek growled and glared at the younger boy. There it was, the Derek Stiles knew so well.

"Okay, okay, big bad wolf, no reason to growl at me! 11am it is. God, you really have to start working on your social skills! This is not normal!" Stiles' rant was met with a light chuckle from the living room, where the Sheriff observed the situation. Stiles turned to his father and glared. He didn't like people ganging up on him.

"Whatever Stiles" Derek said in passing and was out of the door. Once Stiles had closed the door behind the alpha wolf, he heard another chuckle coming from the living room. Stiles turned and stalked back towards his father plopping down on his previous seat.

"Don't laugh at me, Dad" he growled, and man, he almost sounded like Derek!

"I'm not laughing at you, Stiles, I'm laughing at how everything has changed. I mean, you once accused Derek of murder and now he is a constant guest on our living room. You have to admit that a lot has changed!"

Stiles' dad was right. Indeed a lot had changed between Derek and Stiles. Gone were the times where he was slammed into walls, or steering wheels, because of the brooding man. In fact, Derek was much less brooding than he used to be. He was really trying to be a better alpha, and that meant dropping the lonesome wolf act. He had started to get the pack together and now they could really say that he was the head of their family of misfits.

Stiles had also found out that Derek had a sense of humor. It didn't come out all too often, but when it did, Derek had the whole pack in stitches. It was… good. Yes, really good.

And Stiles was probably the only person in the pack that didn't get growled at for talking back. Maybe it was because he wasn't a beta, he didn't know. All he knew was that Stiles still had his lose mouth and he hadn't once been shut up by the alpha.

If he had to admit it, Stiles liked this slightly special position in the pack. And if he had to admit another thing, Stiles had to say that he kind of liked the banter between the two of them. It kept him on his toes.

They weren't friends, not really, but they were in a good place.

Really, it would just be weird to call Derek his friend.

Even though it wouldn't be bad to have such a good looking guy as a friend – yes, Stiles liked looking at Derek, sue him. Who wouldn't like looking at Derek Hale?

And maybe he had had a dream or two before, starring one dark haired alpha wolf in the lead role. It had stumped him for a few moments after waking up the first time, but by now he had sort of gotten used to Derek staring as the lead in his dreams. There really wasn't anything he could do about what his subconscious wanted to show him, right? And it's not as if Stiles didn't enjoy those dreams… Anyways!

Yes, a lot had changed, and Stiles would never change it back.


	2. Chapter 2

At 11am sharp Stiles saw Derek pulling up in the Camaro in front of his house. With a wave good bye to his father and his travel coffee mug in hand he was out the front door and walked towards the car. He opened the door on the passenger's side and let himself fall down on the seat. It was still too early for him. He was on summer break for heaven's sake; he didn't want to have to be up before noon!

"Morning sunshine!" Derek greeted him with a laugh and received a grunt in response. The alpha wolf could be so funny sometimes!

"Very funny" Stiles replied drily and fastened the seat belt across his body.

"You didn't have to bring me coffee, Stiles!" Derek didn't even react to the snap, instead took the mug out of his hands with a smile and took a sip.

"That is _my _coffee!" Stiles exclaimed, earning another chuckle from the man next to him. Derek handed him the mug back and started the car.

It was weird, sometimes, how completely un-Derek Derek was. And most of the time it happened when Stiles was around.

"Half of my coffee is gone now! You owe me another one, Derek, I'll hold you to it" Stiles griped, taking a sip of the coffee that was left. He very clearly was not a morning, or early noon, person.

"Whatever, Stiles, let's just go or we'll never get to buy anything" Derek replied, again not reacting to Stiles' words.

The thirty minute drive was spent in silence, Stiles dosing off with his head leaned on the side window. Derek had taken the travel mug out of Stiles' hands and was sipping the rest of it. He had to admit that Stiles' coffee concoctions were always quite delicious. There was a distinct flavor of hazelnut syrup and almond milk in it that made it ridiculously tasty!

"Stiles, wake up, we're here" Derek said, shaking Stiles' shoulder slightly to get him to wake up.

"Wha-?" the boy mumbled, looking around himself bleary-eyed. He really wasn't a morning person!

"We're here" Derek repeated his words and Stiles nodded, stretching as well as he could in the sports car, then opened the door to get out.

The two walked through the mechanical doors into the acclimatized store, which was a welcome change to the hot weather outside. Summer break had been greeted with a heat wave, and anyone without an AC system could be severely pitied.

Stiles walked straight forward, towards where the first kitchens were out on display, but stopped when he noticed Derek not following him. He turned back around and saw him walking towards the coffee shop at the entrance instead. The boy backtracked quickly and fell in step with the older.

"You are thirsty again? You just drank my whole coffee on the way here!" he said, but got no reaction from Derek. Instead of waiting in line he sat down at one of the tables. He had gotten up early, that didn't mean that he didn't want to be comfortable, though, and standing waiting in line was not Stiles' way of being comfortable.

"Stiles!"

Stiles was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called and he turned to look over to where Derek was waiting for him to react.

"What?"

"What do you want?" Derek asked as if it was completely normal for him to buy Stiles coffee. Stiles, however, was slightly surprised by it. Sure, he had told Derek he owed him a coffee, but surely the other man hadn't taken him seriously, had he? It seemed like it.

"Uhh, Hazelnut Latte" he replied, practically shouting across the place. Why Derek hadn't asked him before Stiles had sat down he didn't know. Try to understand these wolves!

"Hot or cold?" Derek continued asking, and Stiles could see that the person in line behind Derek was getting slightly annoyed with them.

"Cold" Stiles replied again, and he was slowly starting to feel awkward. Okay, he was awkward all the time, but being at the center of attention in a coffee shop wasn't something he did on a day to day basis. So yeah, awkward.

A moment later Derek emerged from the line, much to the other customers' relief, with two tall cups in his hands, along with a small paper bag. He handed over one of the cups as well as the bag without a word, then turned on the spot and walked towards the furniture displays. Stiles could only shake his head. Derek still had a lot to learn when it came to social skills. At least his drink was good. Opening the bag he saw a muffin that distinctly looked like raspberry cheesecake, one of his favorites. Nice!

Sipping his drink and trailing behind Derek, Stiles looked through the various displays of dinner tables and chairs, for the moment not saying a word.

Eventually Stiles couldn't bear walking in silence, though.

"So, what do you want to buy?" he asked with his straw still in his mouth. Derek turned from where he looked at a large wooden table.

"Pretty much everything, except for the kitchen and the things for Isaac's room. He'll decide what he wants himself, it's going to be his room after all" Derek explained and Stiles nodded. Made sense. The Hale house had burned down almost completely, and so far, Derek hadn't really bothered with furnishing his other living spaces. Really, how Derek had lived in an abandoned train car escaped him. There hadn't even been running water!

"Good, well, we won't want to have that table though" Stiles replied, taking another sip of his iced latte. Derek shot him a frown.

"Why not? It's a nice table, it's durable, made of real wood and not this pseudo wood stuff" he argued, but Stiles kept shaking his head.

"You mean chipboard. And yes, it's nice it's made out of wood, but it only seats six people. As far as I know, we are more than six people." The grin on his face could be described as 'shit-eating'. Stiles loved it when he was smarter than others. "You need to start counting better, sourwolf."

Stiles was thankful they were the only people in the vicinity, or else Derek growling and flashing his alpha-red eyes at him would have caused quite a riot.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh, don't be so bitchy, oh big bad alpha! I was just saying that we will need a table holding at least ten people, so really, we should look at a few bigger options, or, you know, have the table custom made. I think that would be easier in the long run. I doubt this store has a special department for wolf packs! But we can choose some nice chairs and then you can have the table made so that they fit together" Stiles tried to reason with his alpha. He might be the only one who could talk to Derek whatever way he pleased, but that didn't mean he liked the death glares that still were directed his way sometimes.

With a sigh Derek nodded and let himself fall on the chair next to him. Stiles sat down opposite of him and set down his drink.

"Hey, really, it's not a big deal, I mean, I know the table won't be done by next week, but hey, it's not as if you have never lived without a dining table before, right?" Stiles tried to lighten the mood and Derek's lips escaped a light chuckle.

"No, you're right. I guess we should make a list of what we need to get right now, and what can wait for a bit. There is no way I'm going to furnish five guest rooms in one go. Do you have a piece of paper?" the alpha asked and after petting himself down, Stiles shook his head. Derek huffed and got off his seat, walking across the show room and towards a desk where a saleswoman was sitting. A moment later he came back with a notepad and a pen.

"Okay, so, I had planned to have a breakfast table custom made as well. It is already being made. I can call the carpenter later today and make another appointment for another table. There really is no way we are going to buy a table for twelve people here. If there are tables that large here, they're probably going to cost a fortune" Derek said, writing down 'dining table' under the 'custom' column he had drawn up. "Anything else we won't be able to get in a normal store?" he asked and Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

"I think the rest will be quite easy to buy here or at other department stores. Let's just make a list of things we really need to buy in the next week and go for that. The rest can be done piece by piece. Even if the pack is going to sleep over at your house, we aren't going to use the guest rooms anyways, at least not for now. I'm pretty sure we're all just going to sleep in the living room" Stiles reasoned and Derek nodded, writing down 'living room' on the other column.

"I also need to get an office ready. I want to have a place where research can be stored, and no Stiles, your bedroom is not the perfect place for that" Derek said, chuckling when Stiles let out a huff when he was cut off before he had even started to speak. Could werewolves read minds now, too?

"Good, living room, office, kitchen ware, so you can actually cook and eat in the house, what else?" Stiles said, opening the paper bag with the muffin and pulling the pastry out to set it on the bag. These muffins were just too good! He broke off a piece of the cake and stuffed it into his mouth, letting out a moan when he tasted the raspberries. Man, he loved raspberries!

At the noises Stiles made Derek looked up, raising one of his eyebrows at him questioningly.

"What? These are delicious! Try it!" Stiles defended himself, breaking off another piece of cake and holding it out across the table for Derek to take. Derek looked at the piece of cake as if it was offending him, but eventually took it and put it in his mouth. It was all he could do not to moan just like Stiles had done before. These muffins were incredible!

"Uhmm, yeah, we also… I also need… well, a furnished bedroom would be nice" Derek said, coughing to get back on the issue at hand. How could a piece of muffin distract him so much? Although it probably wasn't the cake that was doing the distracting…

"Ha, you got enough of sleeping on the floor? I can't disagree with you there, you really need a bedroom!" Stiles laughed and pulled over the list Derek had started. With bold letters he wrote down 'Alpha's cave' and pushed it back across the table. Derek read the newest bullet point and groaned, but the grin on his face couldn't be hidden away.

With a makeshift plan in hand the pair got up again and started walking around the different aisles in the show room a second time.

"Well, now that we have a list of what rooms to furnish, let's look out a couch! I want a really large couch, more like a cushion island, really, you know, so there is enough space for the whole pack on there! It has to be large enough for all of us to sleep on there! Derek maybe we'll have to get a custom made couch as well after all! I don't think there are couches that large being sold regularly!" Stiles rambled on and on, walking in front of Derek towards the couch section, and Derek wasn't sure if it hadn't been a huge mistake to take Stiles of all people with him to go furniture shopping. Had the boy taken his Adderall in the morning? It didn't seem like it…

And if you squinted a little bit, it even seemed as if the two were shopping for a house together. As in, they were both going to move in. Derek had to admit that he wasn't as offended by the thought as he would have been a few months, or weeks even, earlier. He had grown accustomed to the incessant talking of Stiles, as well as all the weird things the boy did on a regular basis. He might have even grown a bit fond of them, had grown fond of him. When Derek had met Stiles half a year ago, he had been nothing but annoyed by him, but the annoyance had turned into something else. He enjoyed Stiles' company, even if he got a headache because of him more often than not. It was nice not living in complete silence anymore.

"Derek I mean it, I'm pretty sure we are not going to get a couch that large here! But we need a couch by next week! We have to have a housewarming movie night, but we can't do that without a couch! This is horri-"

"Stiles! Shut up!" As much as Derek liked the silence being gone, this was just too much talking at one time!

"But-"

"Do you mean something like that?" Derek ignored Stiles and moved over to a monstrosity of a couch.

"Oh my God, yes! This is amazing! It's like an island! This is the couch we have to get!" Stiles exclaimed, pushing his coffee in Derek's hands and letting himself fall backwards on the couch. "This is amazing! There is enough space for another pack on here! You have to try it out!"

Derek shook his head at Stiles' ridiculousness but sat down on the couch as well, and he had to admit that yes, this was probably the perfect couch for them. He sat down the coffees on the side table next to the couch and let himself fall backwards so he lay next to Stiles.

"We're going to buy it" he said after a moment of silence, and Stiles fist pumped, letting out a grunt of success. In that moment Derek's phone started going off in his back pocket. He pulled out the device and accepted the call.

"Hey Erica… yeah we're still here… we? Oh, Stiles is here as well… yeah, we're in the couch section… look for the largest couch and you'll find us… okay, see you in a bit" he ended the call, and Stiles already knew what it had been about.

"The girls are here?" he still asked and Derek nodded, but didn't move to get up. This couch was just way too comfortable.

Only a few moments later Stiles could hear Lydia and Erica's laughter from where they were walking towards them. He sat up and grinned at them, opening his arms and waving them around.

"Welcome to our new couch!" he exclaimed and the girls stopped short in front of them.

"That is… the biggest couch I have ever seen in my life!" Lydia said, for once short for words.

"Yeah, it's really nice, good job guys! I didn't think you had it in you to find something decent to buy! I really like the color" Erica agreed, earning a growl from her alpha. Erica was quick to look to the floor and be ashamed. No one talked to the alpha like that. No one, except for Stiles.

"Yeah, we are not going to buy a cream colored couch, not in a million years" Stiles said drily, and Erica looked up to frown at him.

"Why not? It looks really good!"

"Uhh, because you are a pack of freaking werewolves, and you are going to track in dirt from the preserve, and also, Scott is part of the pack and I have seen him eat before. There is no way we are getting a lightly colored couch. It would be dirty within two days! Also, if I ever see you two painting your nails on the couch you'll have a new thing coming!" The look Stiles directed at the girls had them shut up immediately. Derek chuckled. It really seemed like Stiles was the one moving into the house! And who knew anyone could get this passionate about a couch?! Stiles apparently!

"Okay, maybe you are right. Scott really eats like a pig, and I hate to admit it, but so does Jackson. It would be really stupid to buy a white couch when those two are going to be on it constantly" Lydia agreed and sat down next to Stiles.

"What do you think, Derek? You like the couch?" Erica asked while letting herself fall on the couch like all the others.

"I like it, it's comfy, we're buying it."

In that moment a sales woman approached the group and asked if they needed any help.

After the delivery for the couch had been scheduled, Derek paired Erica and Lydia together to go and look at kitchen ware they liked. Even though both girls were useless in the kitchen, he let them choose what dishes they wanted to get. They had argued that they would know best what would look good and that Stiles would probably pick something horrible. Stiles resented their words. He was sure he would pick out amazing stuff!

Derek and Stiles ended up looking through piles of towels of all sizes and colors, even though they were really not the most important things to buy.

"Look at these! These are amazing! Derek, you have to get a set of these!" Stiles exclaimed while rummaging through a pile of colorfully printed towels.

"Stiles, I'm not going to buy novelty towels. I want a nice home, not a frat house" Derek replied, not even sparing the towels Stiles was holding up a glance.

"I resent that! These are not novelty towels! They have the Starfleet emblem on them! They are awesome!" In that moment Derek was really glad the girls were choosing dishes. They were right, Stiles would probably have chosen something ridiculous!

After another few hours of walking through the store, choosing furniture here and there and scheduling them to be delivered all on the same day Derek and Stiles met up with the girls again and walked to the check out together. The girls had two carts full of essential kitchenware, and Stiles really hoped they would get everything into their two cars. The boy was impressed when Derek didn't even flinch when he heard the total, but instead just passed over his credit card. Stiles knew the sum Derek had received from all the life insurances of his late relatives had been hefty, but still, that was a lot of money for pots and plates!

The four had to practically play Tetris in their cars' trunks, but they ended up being able to stow everything away. Erica trailed Derek on their way back to the Hale property to drop off their purchases and Stiles gasped when the rebuilt house came in sight. It truly was a sight to see. Stiles had seen the process of it being rebuilt, but it still took his breath away every time he laid his eyes on it. It was gigantic and absolutely beautiful.

With two werewolves in their midst, unloading the car was done quickly and all the boxes were stowed away in the kitchen. The workers didn't have to do anything there anymore, so they wouldn't be in the way.

"Good, this is a start. The furniture is being delivered next week, what's really important now is for Isaac to chose everything for his room" Derek said more to himself than to the others, looking at his new home. He had chosen to build a completely new house on the old ground.

Even though he had grown up in the burned down Hale house and had spent the majority of his life being happy there, too many bad memories lingered there now, and Derek didn't want to have to be reminded every time he walked inside that he was the reason there was no one of his family left inside. He might have not burned down the house himself, but he had let Kate get to them.

He wanted to build a new home for his new pack. A new start.

"You know what else is good? Food! I'm starving" Erica announced and earned a chuckle from Stiles.

"Well, aren't you lucky that I had planned to make my grandmother's barbeque chicken and potato skins!" Stiles said with a laugh and together the foursome made their way back through town to the Stilinski residence.


	3. Chapter 3

Whoa, I have no idea what happened with the first version of this chapter! Weird right? Anyhow, here's a proper chapter now! Have fun! And thanks to the lovelies who told me the chapter was all mucked up! :)

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Four days later the pack met in front of the rebuilt Hale house. The builders had completed their work the day before and everything was set for them to move in, which would happen in two days time. The day before, Derek had taken Isaac back to the furniture store to pick out what he wanted to have in his bedroom. The wolf had been completely overwhelmed with the fact that he was allowed to choose whatever he wanted, and it had taken Erica holding his hand the entire trip through the store to get him to calm down. Again and again he had insisted that Derek would spend too much money on him, but Derek hadn't reacted to any of his protests. The pup really had to make up time of being cared for. Along with Isaac's furniture, the three wolves had also picked out other necessities that would be vital for them to live in the house.

The pack had also gone to a hardware store to pick out paint. They had agreed as a unit that white walls just wouldn't do. So far they had only concentrated on paint for the rooms that would be frequented regularly for the next few months. What use was it to paint the walls in rooms that wouldn't even be occupied for the time being! Erica had pouted at Derek's decision, but he had soothed her growls with a promise that she could have free reign with the paint for the walls that would eventually be 'her' room. Derek had planned the house so that every one of his betas would have a room to stay there over night, and in a bed, so really, every one of them had their own bedroom at the pack's new house.

To get the paintjob out of the way quickly, the pack had divided into smaller groups, so multiple rooms could be done simultaneously, because the more rooms could be painted at the same time, the faster Derek could take the paint away again. It just wasn't safe to have large buckets of paint in the wolves' vicinity. It would just end up getting everywhere!

Stiles ended up staying in the movie room with Derek. Yes, they would have a freaking movie room! The paint they had chosen for the room was a deep, warm burgundy that matched the dark brown fabric of the couch perfectly. This room would really be turned into a cozy nest where they could just relax and watch movies.

The pair worked in silence, and for once, Stiles didn't have the urge to fill the void with incessant chatter about everything and anything. Their silence was companionable; something Stiles hadn't really experienced with Derek before. Not to this extent, at least. So far, Stiles had always tried to avoid silences, because they just made him feel awkward, but this, them painting walls next to each other, was nice.

In the end it was Derek who broke the silence with a chuckle. Stiles stopped where he was painting and turned to look at the man to his right.

"What's so funny? Do I have paint on my face? Because that could very well happen! I remember, the last time I helped my dad paint the living room, I ended up with cream colored hair." And there it was, his incessant chatter. Another chuckle from Derek's direction made him stop.

"No Stiles, you don't have paint on your face, don't worry. Do I have paint on my face?" Stiles stepped over to Derek, his paint brush still in hand, and inspected his face.

"Well, you have something right…there" Stiles said, laughter bubbling up when he lifted his paint brush and dipped it against Derek's cheek. Derek was immediately left speechless. He lifted his hand to his cheek, and it came back dark red.

"You didn't just do that" he said very slowly and quietly, but Stiles' laughter couldn't be stopped.

"I did didn't I?!" he brought out between bursts of laughter. His sides were starting to hurt. The look on Derek's face was just too hilarious.

The alpha wolf slowly started to stalk towards Stiles. The look on his face turned from stunned to mischievous, maybe even a bit predatory, and Stiles' laughter died in his throat. This didn't look good for him.

"I think I missed something on your face after all, Stiles" Derek said calmly, and Stiles started to vigorously shake his head.

"No, I think I'm fine, Derek, totally fine! Derek! DEREK!" Stiles backed away from Derek who was coming closer and closer, but there was no outrunning a wolf. Derek's hand curled around the younger man's wrist, and persistently, but at the same time carefully, Derek pulled Stiles back into the room, and over to the bucket of paint.

"Derek, I'm warning you! You are not dunking me in the paint! I swear to everything that is good, if you splash paint on me-"

"I'm not going to splash paint on you, Stiles" Derek said, a laugh now evident in his tone of voice, but he still kept pulling Stiles' arm to the bucket of paint. "You're going to splash paint on yourself!" And with that Derek dunked Stiles hand into the paint, and pulled it back out, now bright red and dripping with gooey paint. He kept up the grip on Stiles' wrist and slowly inched it towards the boy's face.

"No, Derek, please! I'm sorry, come on man, this is going to be a bitch to get out of my hair! Nononono, Derek!" But it was too late and with a triumphant laughter, Derek planted Stiles' hand on his own face, leaving a bright red and dripping hand print all over the right side.

"Oh this is going to be sweet revenge!" Stiles exclaimed after his hand was released again, and he made quick work of dunking his paint brush, which he was still holding in his other hand, into the bucket and smearing it across Derek's other cheek and forehead.

"You are on!"

The ruckus they caused lured the rest of the pack to see what was going on. They stopped short in the doorway to the movie room, shocked at what they were seeing. Both Derek and Stiles' were sprinkled with red paint from head to toe, but the majority of the paint was on their faces.

"What on earth are you doing?" Lydia eventually exclaimed, getting Derek and Stiles to stop one-upping each other. The two were a real sight to see, as was the rest of the room.

"And they said we would be the ones getting paint everywhere" Boyd commented drily, then turned back to finish painting the dining room.


End file.
